While out of the county last week, I was in a building when a fire alarm went off. The building’s occupants quickly existed the multiple-story building properly through the use of the recently-constructed building’s emergency exit stairwells. The area’s fire department arrived on location and proceeded to park their apparatus under the building’s center breezeway, with five stories of structure above the engine.
Crews proceeded to check the building for any issues – none were found. However, had the incident been a real fire, the department’s choice of apparatus parking could have quickly become an issue. As it comes to find out, this building is a frequent location of false alarms – averaging at least one a week. But the idea that a fire alarm at a frequent location is always a false alarm is an issue when ensuring firefighter safety – jump started by the placement of an apparatus upon arrival.
Proper placement of an apparatus is a necessity in order to ensure that all personnel and equipment can operate safely, and can also set the stage for further operations on the emergency scene. On the scene of any incident, the placement of the first-arriving engine in critical to the flow of the other responding units.
The first-due crew on location at a structure fire should attempt to park their apparatus just prior to or just after a corner of the incident, giving the first arriving officer on the apparatus an opportunity to survey three sides of an incident from that location. At building fires, it is important to ensure that the first piece on location leaves enough space for a ladder or truck company to set up their apparatus safely. Remember – hoses stretch, ladders don’t. The same
When parking your apparatus at a traffic accident, be sure to remember the line of safety: yourself, your fellow firefighters, and the public. When placing your apparatus, be sure to block enough of the highway to ensure the safety of the responders operating on location. Be sure to angle your apparatus’ wheel in the direction opposite of the incident, so any impact by another vehicle would force your apparatus to move in the direction away from the scene where emergency personnel and victims may still be
. It’s also important to try and protect the pump/engineer panel by parking with the panel opposite the movement of traffic, if possible. If you’re able to shut the entire highway down, that allows for the ultimate safety.
You should place your apparatus upwind and uphill form any traffic accident or potential hazardous material scene, including suspected terrorism. A quick egress route from the scene should also be available in case the situation deteriorates and an evacuation of personnel is required. Be sure to park at least 100 feet from any incident, as any spark from an apparatus could ignite a flammable substance.
Be aware of surrounding utilities at an incident as well, and park away from such obstacles.
Also, as discussed several weeks ago, building collapse zones should always be considered when placing apparatus. Apparatus should always be as far away from the building as the building is high, if feasible for the situation. If not, crews should observe the situation as the incident progresses and make the appropriate relocations necessary if the fire’s size increased.
As with all firefighting skills, these procedures take practice. Drilling on apparatus placement at various locations throughout your district is a good exercise for apparatus drivers, especially as the weather gets colder and outdoor drills become more difficult due to unfavorable weather conditions. Be sure to include your local police and emergency medical personnel in such drills – often times they can beat fire apparatus to the scene of an incident, and their vehicle placement factors into yours.
Place you truck properly, and protect your personnel above all else. Don’t become another statistic. Stay safe, and train, train, train.
Knoll, 20, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at beyondtheflamescmc@gmail.com. He is a student at Rowan University.
